CHESTER >> Much of the order brought by sporting director Earnie Stewart to the Philadelphia Union has involved assembling discreet silos for players.

A center forward, in the Union’s conception, is a powerful player comfortable operating with his back to goal. A winger must relish taking on defenders with the ball in his feet, displaying pace to put markers under pressure and the final touch to pay off a move.

Based on a small sample size, Cory Burke appears to transcend that barrier. He’s an out-and-out No. 9, as his 6-3 frame indicates. But the Jamaican forward looked plenty at home in his MLS debut Saturday, entering as a substitute on the wing and instantly putting New England under pressure.

On the to-do list of firsts, Burke checked off his first minutes, first assist — on CJ Sapong’s clincher in the 2-0 win — and first red card drawn in 24 productive minutes that impressed coach Jim Curtin.

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“It’s about the right attitude going into the game,” Burke said Thursday at training. “I got my debut. To perform at that level, to have an assist and take a guy out of the game, it feels great for me.”

“We knew there would be some tired legs from the left back” of New England, Curtin said of the assertive double-sub that introduced Burke and Jay Simpson. “And the first opportunity Cory took was to go one-v-one against him and made a really good play to beat him in the corner and obviously play a good cross to CJ to give CJ a tap-in. All around a good play. All around, you can tell what Cory brings.”

Curtin still sees Burke as a long-term No. 9, though Burke has played out wide for Jamaica. Burke said he’s comfortable in that role, and not having a defender constantly on his back is liberating.

He’s not a step-for-step replacement for the speedier David Accam or Fafa Picault, but for his size, his turn of pace is tremendous. Factor in the mass he gets moving, and his forceful stride can put defenders to the sword.

“I always have that mindset whenever I’m playing, to bring the energy and intensity to go at people,” Burke said.

“He’ll run, he’ll fight,” Curtin said. “It can be unorthodox. It can be difficult for defenders to understand exactly what he’s going to do. It can be difficult for our players to understand exactly what he’s going to do, but you guys saw when he gets a head of steam and he’s running at you, it makes defenders backpedal and retreat.”

Burke presents Curtin with an intriguing change of pace. After wearing down defenders with speedier options, Burke could be a closer on the wing, dangerous on set pieces and valuable defending them. After 80 minutes of trying to track down Accam, having someone as hulking as Burke lay a shoulder into you isn’t something to look forward to.

Burke could also be in the right place at the right time. He’s a more direct option than Fabian Herbers or Marcus Epps, though his defensive aptitude trails those two. After 13 goals the last two seasons with Bethlehem Steel and 13 caps for the Reggae Boyz, the 26-year-old has experience. And with Curtin stating Saturday that he wants his team to chase wins more than sit back to preserve draws, Burke seems an ideal fit.

That’s the read Burke got Saturday, and his execution was spot-on.

“When I was on the bench, we were winning the first half,” Burke said. “But back out for the second half, we didn’t have the energy and intensity to go forward and press like we did in the first half. I see that from off the bench and know that I have to go in and bring energy to the game, and I did just that.”

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NOTES >> The Union’s appeal of Picault’s three-match suspension reduced the fine but not the term of his ban, Curtin said Thursday. “Let’s just say the appeal helped his wallet but it didn’t help the team in terms of getting him back anytime sooner,” Curtin reported. “Difficult situation there but the league held firm on the three games.” Picault was suspended three matches for an incident with Orlando City midfielder Pierre da Silva in a closed-door scrimmage Feb. 14 for what MLS termed “offensive language” in an announcement furtively dropped less than 24 hours before the opener. Picault will be eligible to return April 7 at Colorado. … Ilsinho (hamstring) is responding from a PRP injection, and Curtin expects him to return to training at the beginning of next week. Ilsinho has been out since the middle of preseason. … The Union are off this week after their game at Seattle was rescheduled due to a conflict with the Sounders’ quarterfinal first leg in the CONCACAF Champions League. Along with the international break in late March, the Union play only three games in five weeks. To compensate, the Union will scrimmage Steel and New York Red Bulls II this weekend.